CONSUMER ENGAGEMENTHelping People Want What They Need

development and support for this publication was provided by

publication authors

TIMOTHY FLACKE

Executive Director

KRISTEN BRYANT

Senior Innovation Strategist

d2d fund (d2d)innovations for financially

vulnerable consumers

D2DFUND.ORG

Since its creation 1976, MetLife Foundation has provided more than $700 million in grants and $70 million in program-related investments to organizations addressing issues that have a positive impact in their communities. Today, the Foundation is dedicated to advancing financial inclusion, committing $200 million over five years to help build a secure future for individuals and communities around the world. To learn more about MetLife Foundation, visit www.metlife.org

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CONSUMER ENGAGE-

MENT IN FINANCIAL

EMPOWERMENT means

consumers who desire

the very tools that can

help them prosper and

build wealth.

In the 1989 movie Field of Dreams, Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella is famously haunted by a voice telling him “If you build it, they will come.” While Ray’s decision to build a baseball diamond in a cornfield does bring baseball magic to his farm, for financial empowerment advocates, the feel-good Field of Dreams wisdom has often proven wrong. Simply creating tools to fos-ter financial security has not been enough to ensure that consumers will use them, much less benefit from them. Indeed, by 2014, the FDIC reported that nearly three-quarters of Americans had savings accounts; yet in the same year, the Federal Reserve found that nearly half of Americans lacked savings sufficient to cover a $400 emergency.

Further progress in financial empowerment requires more than ensuring consumers have access to finan-cial tools; the challenge is now ensuring that consum-ers, especially financially vulnerable consumers, use and benefit from the products and services available to them.

As funders and providers consider that challenge, the idea that consumers might desire the very tools and services that will help them build financial as-sets, skills, and confidence is a tantalizing possibility. The future of the financial empowerment field might be less an exhausting, expensive march to expand existing program models, and more about cultivating designs and approaches that attract users and redirect existing behavior.

Consumer Engagement describes an approach to capi-talize on this opportunity, to improve the scale and impact of financial empowerment interventions at the local, regional, and national level. This brief develops this core idea for the benefit of funders and providers, with a goal of offering both groups a common frame-work and language for discussion. The brief defines and explains key terms, illustrates the ideas presented with case studies, and concludes with a set of actionable recommendations.

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DEFINING CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT

In the context of this paper, consumer engagement describes both a philosophy and a pro-

cess for developing and delivering financial products and services. At the core is the consum-

er, who is the intended target of financial empowerment efforts and the key stakeholder; he/

she is the actor who will ultimately decide what tools to use and is an indispensable source

of intelligence about his/her needs and wants.

Three pillars define consumer engagement, each of which informs and relies on the others:

1. APPROACH: DEMAND FOCUSEngaging experiences emerge from provid-ers who believe that growth and impact are driven by sustained consumer demand for a product. Strategies employed to unlock this demand include a commitment to talk with and understand consumers, to build from their existing behaviors and preferences, and to recognize that marketing is an essential ele-ment of any new product or tool.

2. GOAL: DEEP CONNECTIONProducts, services, or brands truly engage consumers when they create a substantive, meaningful connection that serves as a ba-sis for consumer action-taking. Products that connect deeply with consumers result from applying consumer research insights to prod-uct design, soliciting consumer feedback dur-ing development, and revisiting and adapting products over time.

3. OUTCOME: VOLUNTARY, ENTHUSIASTIC USEThe ultimate aim of consumer engagement, and the litmus test of success, is that con-sumers make a voluntary, enthusiastic choice to use a product or service, and view them-selves as having agency around that choice. Hallmarks of enthusiastic use are strong con-sumer trial, adoption, and repeat-use rates; evidence of positive impact for consumers; and patterns of on-going use, including pro-gressive movement within a product family as a consumer’s needs evolve.

DEMAND FOCUSu Research u Understand Consumer u Market Creatively

DEEP CONNECTIONu Design with Intent u Develop Trust

ENTHUSIASTIC USEu Measure Use u Foster Repeat Use and Graduation u Collect Feedback

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ALLOWING CONSUMER DEMAND TO DRIVE SCALEFrom smartphones to personal fitness trackers, most Americans have firsthand experience with innovations that help them achieve personal goals. A common thread links many such innovations that have rapidly permeated society: Consumers desire them. Beyond savvy marketing, the best innovations scratch a fundamental consumer “itch.” Their growth is demand driven, rather than supply driven. And a key driver of consumer demand is en-gaging products and services—those that both appeal deeply to consumers as addressing a significant need, and encourage a substantive connection between users and products.

Consumer engagement is important too because it drives impact, in both scope and depth. Engaged consum-ers are more likely to demand a product that has relevance and to “pull” a tool rather than be the target of some “push” effort. This is good news for providers, as responding to consumer demand is less labor intensive and expensive than manufacturing it. Engaging products and services also tend to be distinctive, with a greater like-lihood to attract consumers’ attention—especially that of lower-income consumers who are often distracted or overwhelmed by the stress of their financial lives.

Beyond scope or reach, engaging products are also well positioned to support consumer behavior change: to drive “deep” impact. When consumers are excited to participate in a new experience—whether downloading an app or opening a new account—they grant the experience their full attention. This enthusiasm and openness are essen-tial psychological conditions for a person to try out a new behavior, a step that many people perceive as risky and makes them feel vulnerable. A consumer’s willingness to engage and take action is essential, as financial empow-erment initiatives often aim to support new behaviors such as saving, planning, debt repayment, or borrowing to achieve a financial goal.

ENGAGING PRODUCTS are well positioned to support consumer behavior change and drive “deep” impact, as enthusiasm and openness are essential psychological conditions for a person to try out a new behavior.

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DEMAND FOCUS: HARNESSING EXISTING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR TO DRIVE ADOPTIONWith the U.S. consumer savings rate hovering around a dismal 4%, D2D wondered if saving could be made more interesting, exciting, and rewarding—in short, more at-tractive. Noting the $70 billion U.S. lottery industry,1 and observing that consumers in other countries respond to prizes as savings incentives, D2D began explor-ing prize-linked savings products in 2006. Prize-linked savings transforms the savings experience from a chore to a game, from purely delayed gratification to immedi-ate excitement. For each deposit, savers earn a chance to win cash prizes. The Ford Foundation, the W.K. Kel-logg Foundation and the Center for Financial Services Innovation, all early backers of D2D’s work in this area, appreciated the idea’s scale potential. With their sup-port, D2D has driven growth of the concept through on-going product innovation with a variety of partners, successful policy advocacy in 16 states and at the fed-eral level, and research and evaluation work. This work has enabled the most established prize-linked sav-ings product to date, Save to Win™, to generate over $115 million in savings deposits by a broad cross- section of 50,000 consumers since 2009.2

DEEP CONNECTIONS: CREATING WITH CONSUMERS TO DRAW IN CUSTOMERSD2D involved consumers in the creation of a new con-cept, Financial Entertainment—a suite of online and mo-bile video games that introduce concepts like precaution-ary saving, responsible borrowing, and thoughtful debt management through gameplay. Early funders, includ-ing an anonymous individual donor and the Walmart Foundation, saw potential in making financial education appealing, of “dipping the broccoli in chocolate.” The resulting games make financial learning interesting and participatory, so that consumers who need to learn about

personal finance also want to. Feedback given in user testing sessions has dictated the content and direction of further development. Because consumers have been at the core of the content creation and development pro-cess, they have embraced the final product. With limited marketing support, Financial Entertainment has gener-ated over 500,000 gameplays and 200,000 users since its launch in 2010, and over 20,000 mobile game downloads since 2013.3

VOLUNTARY, ENTHUSIASTIC USE: LEARNING AND ITERATING TO IMPROVE PROGRAM SUCCESSStudying the impact and effectiveness of new tools, and applying consumer feedback for subsequent iterations, has been essential for many D2D innovations. One example is SaveYourRefund, D2D’s tax-time savings promotion, which encourages Americans to save a por-tion of their federal tax refund by offering chances to win cash prizes. The success of the promotion has been built on a steady stream of input from a national net-work of partners—primarily Volunteer Income Tax As-sistance (VITA) sites—who know their consumers well. Consumer feedback drove D2D to alter the promotion’s branding, prize structure, contest design, and communi-cations strategy to create a more appealing experience for participants and tax preparers alike. Incorporating feedback led to a 400% increase in savings and entrants in the promotion’s second year. With patient, long-term support from funders like the MetLife Foundation and the Annie E. Casey Foundation, SaveYourRefund has helped nearly 6,400 people save over $5.3 million at tax time through just three tax seasons.4

Since 2000, Doorways to Dreams (D2D) Fund has been developing engaging solutions to attack financial insecurity. Headquartered in Boston, the nonprofit innovation shop uses consumer research, technology, behavioral science, and unorthodox thinking to develop tools that enable financially vulnerable consumers to build savings and finan-cial capability. Insights from D2D’s work follow below.

BUILDING BLOCKS OF CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT: INSIGHTS FROM THE AUTHORS

1. Source: North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries.2. Save to Win Impact: 2014 Overview.” D2D Fund, September 24, 2015.3. Bringing Financial Entertainment to America.” D2D Fund, October 16, 2014.4. Scratch and Play! 2015 SaveYourRefund Campaign.” D2D Fund, September 15, 2015.

VOLUNTARY USE

TAX

DEMAND FOCUS

DEEP CONNECTION

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1. Source: North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries.2. Save to Win Impact: 2014 Overview.” D2D Fund, September 24, 2015.3. Bringing Financial Entertainment to America.” D2D Fund, October 16, 2014.4. Scratch and Play! 2015 SaveYourRefund Campaign.” D2D Fund, September 15, 2015.

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STARTING WHERE CONSUMERS ARE—COMMUNITY LOAN CENTERS BY THE TEXAS COMMUNITY DEVELOP-MENT CORPORATIONSIn Texas, payday and auto title lenders extract over $1 billion dollars per year from those who can least afford it, charging interest rates as high as 660% APR. Recognizing a clear consumer demand for short-term access to capi-tal—and seeking to channel rather than judge existing consumer behavior—the Rio Grande Valley Multibank and Texas Community Capital created the Community Loan Center (CLC) Small Dollar Loan Program. Loans are made available through participating employers, further strengthening the relationships between workers and their workplace. Employer participation signals to work-ers that the program is credible and that the firm they work for recognizes their financial reality.

Currently, 32,400 employees, from more than 75 partici-pating organizations, are eligible to apply for loans of up to $1,000 at 18% interest through an online portal. Much like payday lending, the loans simplify the steps required for consumers to meet their liquidity needs, but at a significantly lower interest rate. No-obligation financial counseling is available, there are no in-person meetings with loan officers, and money is transferred directly to an employee’s bank account. The product has enabled more than 6,600 Texans to access over $5 million in capi-tal since 2011. The demand for this payday loan alterna-tive is strong, and with a sustaining grant from the Citi Innovation Fund, this demand is driving further growth of the program. CLC loans are available today in the two largest metropolitan areas in Texas, in smaller cities throughout the state, and may soon be offered in sur-

rounding states. The Texas CDCs estimate that the pro-gram saves borrowers $775 in loan fees and interest an-nually, which translates into over $3 million that remains circulating in the communities served.

DEMAND FOCUS1

Although the terms and language differ, consumer engagement is in wide use by private sector innovators. Entrepreneurs conceive of new products in terms of addressing unmet consumer needs and making customers’ lives easier. In this world, the ultimate measure of consumer engagement is sales; among mission-driven providers, the goal is more complex, involving initial trial, on-going use, and ultimate impact. As illustrated in the examples that follow, with the support and partnership of forward-thinking funders, organizations are finding ways to listen to their customers, respond creatively to consumer wants and needs, and deliver tools that engage consumers.

CLIENTS OF PAYDAY LENDERS OFTEN UNDERSTAND how unfavorable their loan terms are but lack more affordable and readily available options. The Community Loan Center not only provides a better credit option, but by engaging borrowers directly in the workplace we are able to gain their trust, serve their needs quickly through an online interface, and deepen the connection to our brand.”

matt hull TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF CDCs

CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT IN ACTION EXAMPLES FROM THE FIELD

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DEEP CONNECTIONS VOLUNTARY, ENTHUSIASTIC USE2 3DESIGNING WITH INTENTION, RESPONDING, AND IT-ERATING—THE MICROBRANCH “5 FOR ME” ACCOUNT BY THE CENTER FOR COMMUNITY SELF-HELPQuestioning the conventional wisdom that a bank ac-count was always the best choice for underserved con-sumers, the Center for Community Self-Help—a com-munity development umbrella organization that encom-passes a federal credit union and other financial service providers—took a close look at the existing behavior and preferences of its target customers. They found many people were foregoing traditional banking relationships in favor of check-cashing services. In response, Self-Help developed and piloted the first MicroBranch, a concept that relies on two intentionally designed features: 1) physical space that blends the atmosphere of alternative financial services providers with that of traditional finan-cial institutions and; 2) product offerings that appeal to consumers who may be skeptical of bank services.

The MicroBranch engaged Bay Area consumers by rec-ognizing that typical credit union products were not resonating with every prospective customer. In order to first create relationships, Self-Help offered check-cash-ing services at competitive rates alongside their tradi-tional financial products. The next step was identifying a path for their check-cashing customers to transition into an account at the credit union. Self-Help began by offering checkless checking accounts, but quickly re-alized that these accounts were too different from the existing preferences of their check-cashing customers. Information gathered in focus groups and through infor-mal conversations with tellers led to a change in product offerings in 2012. Instead of encouraging customers to access their cash differently, Self-Help focused on creat-ing a pathway for even their check-cashing customers to begin building a savings habit. The “5 for Me” account created a variation on the check-cashing experience by allowing check-cashing customers to put away $5 of each check into a savings account at Self-Help Federal Credit Union.

By responding to customer feedback and iterating, the “5 for Me” account was able to offer customers a com-fortable first move and also fostered relationships be-tween clients and tellers. Clients have grown to embrace tellers as a trustworthy source of advice. This nontradi-tional and consumer-driven approach contrasted with how Self-Help initially imagined a path for consumer be-havior change; moreover, the MicroBranch has reduced obstacles for consumers to access and use safe main-stream products.

BUILDING CONSUMER TRUST AND LOYALTY—MONEY POWER DAY® BY THE BALTIMORE CASH CAMPAIGNSince 2001, Baltimore CASH (Creating Assets Savings and Hope) Campaign has been working to increase the financial security of low-income individuals and families by providing free tax-preparation and asset-building ser-vices with a coalition of partners. Through this work, the citywide organization recognized that Baltimore had no shortage of great financial resources to offer; the chal-lenge was helping residents know about and engage with the available services. Baltimore CASH wanted to facilitate access to the multitude of critical products and services. After reflecting on the challenge and securing buy-in from a range of local funders, the team unveiled its annual Money Power Day (MPD) in spring 2006.

This one-day event creates a fun atmosphere to increase awareness and provide access to a variety of financial resources that include free tax preparation, credit coun-seling, and benefits enrollment. Over the years, the event has included motivational speakers, incentives for visit-ing booths, financial education video games, and raffle prizes to excite the community to explore the great re-sources provided by local and national organizations. Additionally, Baltimore CASH has made this a flexible event, uniquely responding each year to demand. In 2010, they offered extra educational resources about foreclosure and in 2014 they strengthened resources about navigating government-sponsored healthcare.

By deliberately vetting each vendor and provider, Balti-more CASH has provided attendees with a highly curat-ed group of resources and earned the community’s trust. Participants know that only legitimate, non-predatory providers will be present, giving them confidence to take advantage of the services provided. Moreover, the offer-ings are germane. People may attend MPD for one ser-vice—getting and understanding their credit score, for example—and are delighted to discover other salient re-sources. With its “one-stop shop” convenience, respon-siveness to the community, and emphasis on excite-ment, Money Power Day has averaged 1,000 attendees annually for the past decade, and many attend each year.

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ALLOW CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT CONCEPTS TO INFORM YOUR GRANTMAKING STRATEGYAs you communicate with fellow funders and prospec-tive grantees, several fundamental consumer engage-ment concepts are important to keep in mind.

u BENEFICIARIES ARE CONSUMERS. The people who the financial empowerment field seeks to benefit are con-sumers of the services and products the field offers. They will make choices about what to use or adopt, and providers must compete for consumers’ participa-tion. This mentality naturally encourages a focus on how to get consumers’ attention, and offer tools that they deem valuable and worth an on-going investment of their time and resources.

u IMPACT IS MULTIDIMENSIONAL. Measuring impact should occur both at the individual consumer level and in terms of the scale achieved. By measuring success both in “depth” and “breadth,” funders can recognize the value of scale take up, validate the importance of products that consumers naturally desire, and em-power institutions that focus on fostering that desire— provided they increase the consumer’s economic se-curity and/or asset wealth.

u THE UNCONVENTIONAL HOLDS OPPORTUNITY. To find ideas and approaches that truly appeal to and foster a deep relationship with consumers, sometimes one has to be willing to challenge existing orthodoxy. Question-ing accepted wisdom can yield unexpected ideas, such as entertaining video games to teach serious finan-cial concepts or a credit union offering check cashing services. Encouraging openness to new approaches, even if they violate accepted norms, is a powerful way to signal that it is worth taking risks to pursue consum-er engagement.

u IT TAKES TIME. Developing products and services that truly engage consumers is hard—in both the private sector and social sector. Big hits are the exception, not the norm. The organizations that are most likely to succeed have the time needed to develop and re-fine their approach, and the backing to tolerate some failure. That time and backing comes from funders who are patient, and who view themselves as invest-ing in, cultivating, and nurturing consumer engage-ment specialists.

Grantmaker priorities and behavior are crucial levers to encourage consumer engagement in financial empowerment work. The recommendations that follow include both specific, actionable suggestions for grantmaking, and broader suggestions for how to support a consumer engagement approach.

FUNDER RECOMMENDATIONS

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u REFINEMENT CAN GENERATE EXCITEMENT. Adopting a consumer engagement approach does not always mean developing a new product, tool, or service. Sometimes engagement can be achieved by reimag-ining or building from tools that already exist. In other situations, consumer engagement requires not toss-ing out an existing approach and embracing some-thing new, but gradually, patiently refining a tool until it is truly right and effective, as Self-Help did with its MicroBranch work.

CHALLENGE GRANT SEEKERS TO EMPLOY CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIESGrantmakers’ questions and expectations have a power-ful effect on how grant seekers think about their work. Asking key questions can nudge grantees toward con-sumer engagement strategies. For example:

u HOW WILL THIS PRODUCT OR SERVICE GENERATE EN-THUSIASTIC, VOLUNTARY CONSUMER USE? This ques-tion invites grant seekers to understand their idea through their target customers’ eyes, and to pres-ent––or acquire––firsthand consumer feedback about its appeal. It should help funders to assess the reach of a given proposal, which in turn has implications for its ultimate impact. And consumer appeal is also rel-evant to how costly or difficult it will be to sustain a proposed service or product over time.

u HOW WILL THIS PRODUCT OR SERVICE FOSTER A DEEP RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PROVIDER AND CONSUMER? Through this question, funders can ask grant seekers to define what a “deep connection” with consum-ers means in the context of their product or service. Is it about duration, intensity, frequency, prominence in the consumer’s life or goals, and/or practicality? It also highlights the need for a plan to both foster and support any on-going relationship between provider and consumer.

u HOW WILL YOUR ORGANIZATION FOSTER CONSUMER DEMAND FOR THIS PRODUCT OR SERVICE? This ques-tion reminds grant seekers that it is rarely enough to have an appealing, impactful product or service. Mak-ing consumers aware of and motivated to use even a wonderful product still requires a plan and resources. The question invites organizations to understand what resonates from the perspective of the consumer mov-ing to action, to describe their marketing and distribu-tion plans, and to consider how costly or reliable they might be.

LOOK FOR EVIDENCE OF CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT WHEN CONSIDERING FUNDING PROPOSALS While prospective grantees may not use the label “con-sumer engagement” to describe their work, promising proposals should demonstrate ideas described in this paper. Things to look for:

u ORIGINAL AND SECONDARY CONSUMER RESEARCH. If the goal is to offer tools that consumers embrace eagerly, there is no substitute for talking directly to consumers. In some cases, organizations will need to obtain that feedback through original research, such as surveys, focus groups, and in-depth interviews. In others, research may already exist that provides the necessary consumer input. But the use of consumer research in the design of a tool or service is a strong sign that a prospective grantee understands for whom they are designing.

u CONSUMER ROLE IN DEVELOPMENT. Where grant seek-ers propose to develop something, it’s tremendously helpful if they have a plan woven into their develop-ment process (and timeline) to check their work with their intended customers. This feedback must be ob-tained during a development process—not just after—in order to influence the final outcome. And it may take a variety of forms, from consumer panels test-ing early versions of a product to consumer advisory groups providing continuous feedback.

u OPENNESS TO EVOLUTION. It’s a rare product or ser-vice that is perfect in its first iteration. Grant seekers who recognize this build plans that assume their first-generation product is a starting point, not an endpoint. They will indicate a desire and plan to move from ver-sion 1.0 to version 2.0, or from pre-pilot to pilot. Their plans will reflect humility about their ability to get it all right in one pass, patience to prepare for subsequent development work or rounds, and often a request for multiyear support.

u EVALUATION FRAMEWORK. How a grant seeker de-fines success provides important information about the ambition it holds for a proposed project. If a prod-uct’s take-up rate and cost-effectiveness factor heavily in a proposed evaluation plan and budget, it’s likely the grant seeker is thinking about how the product can scale sustainably—and shares one of the underlying values of a consumer engagement approach.

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THE OPPORTUNITY FOR FUNDERS

When grantmakers focus on consumer engage-ment, grant seekers will too. By integrating cus-tomer-centric questions into grant applications and conversations with grantees, more fund-ing proposals will conceive of beneficiaries as customers, with choices about where to invest their time, money, and attention. More broadly, as funders challenge practitioners to deliver widely appealing products that encourage voluntary, en-thusiastic use, the financial empowerment field will evolve to the benefit of consumers. Addition-ally, products that appeal to consumers have nat-ural momentum and an easier path to broad use. In an environment of scarce resources, consumer engagement offers philanthropy the promise of a more cost-effective path to scale, of more “return on investment.”

Even the language that funders adopt can change how fields conceptualize their work. As an ex-ample, for decades many community providers saw themselves as “financial educators,” aim-ing to equip beneficiaries with financial literacy. However, key funders gradually adopted a new frame that stressed the need to build consumer financial capability by increasing knowledge and putting it into practice with behavior change. As

a result, practitioners and thought leaders shifted not just their language, but also the focus of their work. Objectives evolved from fostering knowl-edgeable consumers to capable customers, and the measures of success changed from exam scores to documented behavior change.

Funders are already investing in projects that em-body the consumer engagement frame. In 2014, Boston’s newly inaugurated mayor, Marty Walsh, announced a pilot Children’s Savings Accounts (CSA) program. The potential of CSAs to moti-vate entire cohorts of children and their families to adopt a saving habit has inspired leaders in many US cities. However, the goal of creating a savings product with widespread and sustained participation has continued to require innovation. As the City of Boston began planning its CSA ini-tiative, the EOS Foundation provided financial and technical support to help city staff ensure de-liberate and regular involvement of target fami-lies throughout the design and development of the program. CSA planners are already preparing for findings from focus groups, in-depth inter-views, and other research to influence the pro-gram model, design, partners, and marketing and communications strategies.

ENGAGING CONSUMERS IN A WAY THAT MAKES THEM ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT YOUR PRODUCTS and services is the goal—but it is also hard to do. Because we believe in the power of financial services to help low-income people reach their aspirations—homeownership, a healthy family, educated kids, a dependable car to get to work—it’s imperative for us to make these dreams a reality.”

evelyn stark METLIFE FOUNDATION

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The contemporary financial empowerment field recognizes the

importance of strengthening families’ financial security and the

decision-making skills upon which that security ultimately depends.

Thoughtful, intentional philanthropy played a decisive role in the devel-

opment of this work, and has already fostered a number of valuable tools

and opportunities for consumers in communities around the country. As

the field matures, funders and practitioners must focus not just on creat-

ing tools for financial empowerment, but also on ensuring that consumers

seize those opportunities and realize the resulting benefits.

Consumer engagement is a framework to think about and attack precisely

that challenge. Funders should view the term and associated concepts as a

tool to focus practitioners’ attention, and a conceptual framework to gradu-

ally shift priorities over time. In this way, funders can address the respon-

sibility they carry to ensure scarce and precious resources are deployed to

deliver the most benefit for individual households, and largest impact for

society at large.

CONCLUSION

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ASSUME AGENCYConsumers are the ultimate judges of providers’ efforts; your challenge is to appeal to them so they choose your product, tool, or service.

APPROACH: DEMAND FOCUS Approach—how to think about consumer engagement

u RESEARCH AND UNDERSTANDING IS FOUNDATIONAL. Consumers are a valuable source of intel-ligence. Their existing choices typically reflect their needs, wants, values, and rational assessment of the available options.

u THINK MARKETING [AND DISTRIBUTION]. Consumers will only use products or tools that they know about; even the best offerings will need a plan for thoughtful marketing.

u START WHERE CONSUMERS ARE. New products or tools must build from existing consumer preferences and behaviors. Consumer behavior change should not be a prerequisite for new product use.

GOAL: DEEP CONNECTION Goal and Process—what to aim for and how to do it

u DESIGN WITH INTENTION. Develop products and tools that deliberately build from and apply insights from consumer research.

u RESPOND AND ITERATE. Products and tools are rarely perfect in their first iteration. Plan to test new tools with consumers and incorporate their feedback, often more than once.

u ONGOING ADAPTATION. Consumers and the marketplace are dynamic. Collecting and acting on feedback over time helps products remain relevant and useful.

OUTCOME: VOLUNTARY, ENTHUSIASTIC USE Outcome—do consumer engagement right and you will find this:

u USAGE. Consumers embrace engaging products, yielding meaningful trial and adoption rates, as well as measurable benefits and impact.

u TRUST. Consumers develop loyalty and confidence in engaging products, often as a result of transparent product features, costs, and objectives.

u LOYALTY AND PROGRESS. Consumers often use engaging products more than once and over time, where appropriate, they may graduate from one product to another as their needs evolve.

PRINCIPLES OF CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT

ASSET FUNDERS NETWORK (AFN)

The Asset Funders Network (AFN) is a membership

organization of national, regional, and community-

based foundations and grantmakers strategic about

using philanthropy to promote economic opportunity and

financial security for low- to moderate-income Americans.

AFN works to increase the capacity of its members

to effectively promote economic security by supporting

efforts that help low- to moderate-income individuals

and families build and protect assets.

Through knowledge sharing, AFN empowers

foundations and grantmakers to leverage their resources

to make more effective and strategic funding decisions,

allowing each dollar invested to have greater impact.

To learn more and to become involved in

advancing the field, please visit AFN at www.assetfunders.org.

Copyright © 2015 by Asset Funders Network. All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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